FCC Fines TV Stations for Airing fake news

when commercials disguise themselves as a news story..is it clever advertising or a corrupt corporate news station receiving a payment?

"WASHINGTON -- On Thursday, the Federal Communications Commission fined a pair of television stations for airing commercials masquerading as news segments. These video news releases (VNRs) are advertisements produced to be virtually indistinguishable from news stories and distributed to television news departments, and they violate the FCCs longstanding sponsorship identification rules when they are aired without disclosing their origins."..."KMSP-TV, a Fox-owned affiliate in Minneapolis, aired what appeared to be a news report on increased consumer demand for convertible cars in the summer. The video, which was sponsored by General Motors, presented multiple shots and favorable descriptions of GM products.".."WMGM-TV, a NBC affiliate in southern New Jersey, aired a segment on how to treat the common cold. The station claimed the piece was sponsored by a local hospital, but it was produced and paid for by Matrix Initiative, the maker of Zicam zinc cold remedy. The segment featured the use of zinc products as a way to treat colds and exclusively focused on Zicams product."

click on the top link to read the whole story...the lines of news interest and commercial interests are so blurred.."

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